Typus Orbis Terrarum - Abraham Ortelius, 1570. (World Map In Color)
This map gives you a classic 16th century view of the whole world on one print. The land is drawn in an oval shape and surrounded by clouds, a sailing ship and small sea creatures, all printed on warm parchment style paper. It feels like a page taken straight out of an old atlas and works well in a study, library or living room, especially near books, wood and brass details.
 
About this map print
This print is based on Typus Orbis Terrarum, the famous world map by Abraham Ortelius. It first appeared in his book Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, printed in Antwerp in 1570, which many historians call the first modern atlas because it brought many maps together in one regular book.
 
Ortelius used newer geographic ideas, many from Gerard Mercator and other 16th century mapmakers, to draw the continents in a clearer way. The Americas sit on the left, with Europe, Africa and Asia on the right, all covered by a neat grid of latitude and longitude lines so the viewer can read the map like a real tool, not only as decoration.
 
Around the land you see wide oceans filled with a sailing ship and a few sea creatures, while the outer border is made of thick clouds. These details remind you that much of the sea was still unknown and full of stories about what might be hiding there.
 
At the bottom, a Latin quote from the writer Cicero talks about how small human affairs seem when someone knows the size of the whole world and thinks about eternity. That line fits the feeling of the map very well, because you are looking at all known lands and seas on one map and seeing how everything connects.
 
The coastlines and place names connect closely with Ortelius maps like Europae and his separate map of the Americas, so this world map works nicely as the center piece if you want to build a small wall of prints from his atlas.

Craft & finish
This historical world map art print is made on hand processed paper with subtle gold highlights and a beeswax finish so it feels like real parchment when you hold it. The surface catches the light softly on the raised parts of the paper, but colors may look a little different from screen to screen.
 
Find more prints like this in our Antique Maps collection.